‘American Idol’ Finishes Up Auditions: Two Country Hopefuls Make it Through

Things are heating up in reality vocal show land! March 25 marked the last night of American Idol 2018 auditions, and a couple of standout performers did the country genre proud.

Pittsburgh's Gabby Barnett was one of these, a self-proclaimed "Daddy's girl" who explained that her father, a maintenance man/custodian, always said he wanted to make sure he'd given her everything he could to make her dreams come true. "You're my whole life," agreed her father.

The 17-year-old Barnett made no bones about the fact that she's a massive Carrie Underwood fan, and true to that, she busted out with "Good Girl" by her idol. A few handclaps in, judge Katy Perry stopped her, saying "I want to hear you do something that maybe helps you dig in, and belt."

Barnett said okay, and announced she'd try "Church Bells" by...Underwood.

When asked if she had anything in her repertoire that wasn't Carrie, Barnett offered up "Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson. "Don't do that," hastily advised judge Luke Bryan.

The judges threw about some terms that weren't too friendly, such as "jukebox" and "gimmmicky," but in the end voted in favor of Barnett's vocals due to her purity belting out a non-secular number from church. They added a little twist, punking Barnett's dad to believe she didn't make it, just for a few seconds...but that girl is headed to Hollywood.

The other big country contestant of the evening was 19-year-old Drake Milligan, a massive Elvis fan who decided to try out with a different King, namely that of country, George Strait. He belted out "You Look So Good in Love," and Bryan was relieved. "I was just praying you didn't sound like Elvis," he noted, adding that the performance got him "fired up." Judge Lionel Richie agreed, calling Milligan's deal a "package."

Perry had a few words of vocal instruction, but in all, the three judges voted to send this royal wannabe to Hollywood.

American Idol airs Sundays and Monday at 8PM ET/PT, and we'll be keeping an eye on all the as standout performances.